Community to say goodbye to Crosbie June 26

Date: 6/26/2012

June 25, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW — The Select Board will host a gathering to say goodbye to outgoing town manager Robin Crosbie.

Crosbie, whose contract expires on June 30, has been selected by the Board of Selectmen in Ipswich as their next town manager and is currently in contract negotiations with her.

Selectman Mark Gold announced at its June 18 meeting — Crosbie's final as town manager — that the reception would take place on June 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Community House.

"I very much appreciate what you've done for the town. I appreciate all the work you've done over the years and Longmeadow is better because you have been here working for it," he said.

Selectman Paul Santaniello also took the time at the meeting to thank Crosbie, who was the Longmeadow's first town manager after the town charter was changed in 2005.

"As you found out, Longmeadow isn't an easy place to change, especially when most people who wanted the change didn't know what they were changing," he said. "You had a daunting task and I agree with Mark that the town is better off for you being here. I think whoever comes in next has some shoes to fill, but I think you made it easier for them because I think people have gotten to see what a town manager does."

Santaniello pointed to Crosbie's work in relieving the town's issues with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as one of her most important contributions.

"You came in [at] a very difficult time for the town. We had DEP issues and thank goodness those are remediated and done with," he said. "What people might not understand is DEP tried to use Longmeadow as a test case to make a point out of communities not keeping track of where their waste was going and you and counsel were able to get us get out of that mess with very little negative impact to the town."

Crosbie said despite the many trials she faced, it was a pleasure to have served Longmeadow.

"It's been a challenge, but it's also been a pleasure," she added. "I'm probably going to take away more from this than I brought to it.

"It's been a great opportunity. Not too many people get to walk into a fresh form of government. We got to start over, a lot of great things have been done and I feel very confident that the town has a great staff in place and department heads who will carry on the good work," Crosbie continued.